PING: FOFC'ers who know about Martial Arts

[oliegirl]

My son used to do Tae Kwon Do, he got to Blue w/Black belt, and then decided to focus on soccer. He's been only in soccer now for about 18 - 24 months, and is burned out, not enjoying it like he was. One of the factors in leaving TKD, and now possibly leaving soccer, is that he has a problem with his right foot. He's broken the growth plate in his heel twice, which is incredibly painful, and puts him in a cast for about 6 weeks. His ortho has said that that he can play soccer, but chances are that the impact of running and jumping (he's a goalie) is going to cause him to have future injuries. His problem with his heel will continue until he is done growing and the growth plates fuse to the heel bone completely.

So, now he is interested in possibly getting back into some sort of Martial Arts, but because of the problem with his foot, needs something that doesn't require a lot of jumping/kicking. I know TKD focused on the feet, but I've heard there are types of Martial Arts that don't involve so much kicking/jumping, and focus more on upper body - punching and whatnot. I've tried googling and researching, but it's very overwhelming - so I'm hoping that someone here might know a little about this and can help me out.

[gkb]

Aikido involves no kicking (or almost no kicking). I would consider it more of a "softer" martial art. It was my favorite martial art to study, but if he's after a Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu kind of a feel, he might not like it.

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia.

Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. The aikidōka (aikido practitioner) "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks. Aikido can be categorized under the general umbrella of grappling arts.

Also, Tai Chi is very low stress, and I always felt remarkably good after class. Most people don't consider it much of a "martial" art.

[oliegirl]

I've actually seen both of those mentioned...I ruled out Tai-Chi because everything I read said the self-defense aspect of it had been kind of "phased" out over the past years.

Akido seems to be close to what we are looking for. I think it will give him a sense of "fighting", which being a 10 year old boy, is important to him. I am sure there are more out there, I know Frogman is involved in Martial Arts and from what I've seen, it involves more weapons than physicality in the fighting.

There are SO many websites out there, I got overwhelmed really quickly, which is why I turned here Thanks for the info!

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by gkb

Aikido involves no kicking (or almost no kicking). I would consider it more of a "softer" martial art. It was my favorite martial art to study, but if he's after a Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu kind of a feel, he might not like it.

Also, Tai Chi is very low stress, and I always felt remarkably good after class. Most people don't consider it much of a "martial" art.

I'm presently studying Eskrima, and we do an occasional kick (nothing above waist) during Combat Judo drills, there's quite a bit of footwork involved with the style of angling we do.

I'd vouch for soft style arts like gkb mentioned. +1

[terpkristin]

You might look for ju-jitsu schools in your area. It translates to "the gentle art" and puts emphasis on holds, blocks, throws, and the like.

When I had my ankle fused and was forced to give up Tang Soo Do (an art similar in many ways to TKD), the master at my school suggested I get into ju-jitsu. For a variety of reasons, I have not done so yet, but I think about it quite often. I imagine a fused ankle is somewhat similar to a broken growth plate in some ways, given that I'll never be able to run or jump again.

/tk

[MacroGuru]

Well, if he focuses on Capoeira , which my kids do...he doesn't have to do the jumping moves, but there is a lot of kicking, but with Capoeira there isn't contact. It's all about playing in the Roda, learning a culture and a language.

My kids are picking up Portuguese from this, learning to play the Berimbau, Atabaque, and the Pandiero.

It's rigorous on the upper body and the legs, when I participated I was sore in places I didn't realize could be sore.

With us moving here to Buffalo, we have found the class here just need to get them started. (They have been in it for 2 years now)

[Schmidty]

PM Frogman. He's the only one I'd talk to on the board if I wanted good advice about this.

My advice? Get a black belt in kicking to the groin. If he can't kick, quickly drop to one knee and deliver a punch to the groin. It doesn't hurt to do either while yelling "That's my purse!! I don't know you!!!". (No one will recognize that quote)

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

It doesn't hurt to do either while yelling "That's my purse!! I don't know you!!!". (No one will recognize that quote)

King of the Hill! Bobby taking the women's self-defense class as opposed to boxing, I think?

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

Akido seems to be close to what we are looking for. I think it will give him a sense of "fighting", which being a 10 year old boy, is important to him. I am sure there are more out there, I know Frogman is involved in Martial Arts and from what I've seen, it involves more weapons than physicality in the fighting.

Just saw this thread and it's getting kinda late here and I'm tired but I'll try to make some sense...

The style I practice is Nick Cerio's Kenpo, a style of kenpo put together by, you guessed it, a gentleman named Nick Cerio. It's really based on self-defense and a whole lot more upper body (punching of many types, locks, even throws) and not much kicking and I think could fit your son quite well from what I've read about his foot problems. We very rarely kick hard AT something. Sure, we know kicks and we have to be able to execute them in a way that if we needed to in a self-defense situation and such, but contrary to TKD, we don't spar and hit each other regularly, which I understand could be the problem for your son.

A bit similar to your son, I have a bad right knee, let's call it weak, gift from a football injury. I started kenpo because I had seen that the adults taking classes right before or after my son could sort of control their movements, so it looked perfect for me. I know other kenpo styles can be rougher though.

You mention weapons in my style, but they are more for show than part of the regular curriculum of our style. I decided to start learning one weapon because my son was doing it and it looked cool. We don't actually fight each other with the bo. Higher belts get to learn a bit more weapons in a more traditional way, but we're talking higher than my level, and I'm a first degree black belt.

Aikido could be something very good for your son, almost no impact. It's a sort of "use your opponent's strength and movement to your advantage" kind of self-defense.

TK mentionned jiu-jitsu and that one could work too. Really based in self-defense, you learn choregrafed self-defense moves at first and as you grow in the style, you start mix 'n matching them to create real self-defense sequences. I'Ve taken a couple seminars with masters of jiu-jitsu and as tk said, holds, blocks, locks, throws, sometimes kicks, but since you are practicing with a partner, your kicks are mostly for show, i.e. you don't hit for real, cause you know, one blow to the groin and the class would be over...

I've also seen some aiki-jitsu, which is a combination of akido and jiu-jitsu. Very impressive, and effective.

Finally, not too sure how popular goshindo can be in the States, but there are a couple schools in the area here, mostly friends of my instructors and that one seems very controlled too. A mix of karatedo, aikido and jujutsu but I can't say if they kick a lot or not in their classes, only that their self-defense work was also very impressive.

Hope that helps a little, feel free to ask questions if you have some.

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, while I've heard a world of good about tai-chi, I'm also not sure it would fit a 10 year old. I know my 11yo would probably gro restless with the slowness of movement in there...

FM

[MikeVic]

Boxing.

[FrogMan]

MV, while not necessarily seen as a martial art, boxing could be a great idea. The school I will be instructor at will also start a boxing program for kids at the high school level. They do get a pretty good workout and if you got a kid with a fighting spirit, boxing is pretty much it.

FM

[gkb]

Originally Posted by hukarez

King of the Hill! Bobby taking the women's self-defense class as opposed to boxing, I think?

I loved that episode...it kills me every time I see it when Bobby kicks his dad right in nuts. Comic gold.

[MikeVic]

I like King of the Hill too.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by gkb

I loved that episode...it kills me every time I see it when Bobby kicks his dad right in nuts. Comic gold.

I love the part where Hank says something like, "Dangit, Bobby, ya didn't have to kick me in my fellas!".

I love that show. Another great one is when Hank has to get saline filled buttcheeks because he has no ass. Cotton - "Hank, you got BUTT boobies!". And then at the end when Dale pops Hanks cheeks and the other guy throws him his. I die everytime.

What an underrated show.

[Neuqua]

How much does a typical MA class cost? Are they usually paid by the hour? Monthly?

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

How much does a typical MA class cost? Are they usually paid by the hour? Monthly?

When he did TKD, it was $80 a month, which seems to be the going rate. That was for 2 classes a week, one hour each, and an optional 3rd class with a higher group that was 90 minutes long (I think).

It's cheaper than the select soccer program he was in, which as $80 a month for coaches fees, plus about $35 a month for tournaments, plus equipment, uniform and travel costs (gas, hotels for some of the tournaments).

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

I've actually seen both of those mentioned...I ruled out Tai-Chi because everything I read said the self-defense aspect of it had been kind of "phased" out over the past years.

Akido seems to be close to what we are looking for. I think it will give him a sense of "fighting", which being a 10 year old boy, is important to him. I am sure there are more out there, I know Frogman is involved in Martial Arts and from what I've seen, it involves more weapons than physicality in the fighting.

There are SO many websites out there, I got overwhelmed really quickly, which is why I turned here Thanks for the info!

no disrespect to any TKS fan or practitioner in the house but, if you are interested in the self-defense aspect, TKD was the wrong thing to study in the first place. all the flying crap and competition limitation are great for competition but less so for self-defense.

if your son really likes TKD and want something similar while still being useful, shotokan is definitely recommended, provided you can find a dojo that is solid. aikido is certainly commendable. jujitsu, as kristin mentioned, is definitely wort looking at. if i was his age and/or had remotely healthy legs, i would have loved to try copeira like dennis recommended.

there's always going with krav maga for self-defense that you know would work -- i found a studio in long beach/signal hill, but i do not know their quality -- but that might be overkill.

[daedalus]

as an aside, where about are you? if you are in/near the LA area, i could ask my DM and my former neighbor for a place.